Hendersonville church’s stained glass windows have stories to tell

Covenant Presbyterian Church members Bob Justus and Paula Dillman are shown in front of one of the church’s stained glass windows.

PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS

By AMY B. MCCRAWTimes-News Correspondent

Published: Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 8:52 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 8:52 a.m.

First-time visitors to Covenant Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville often comment on the beauty of the church’s two stained glass windows.

And once they learn of the years of painstaking work it took to save and restore the windows, those same visitors are grateful to the members of the church who worked so hard to preserve them.

“We all came away from this thinking it was providential that we had these windows,” said Bob Justus, a member of the church who served on a committee that saved the windows.

The church committee began trying to save the windows in the 1980s after some former members of First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville came together to form Covenant.

While they were planning the new church, Justus and the others learned that some stained glass windows that were part of the First Presbyterian Church building demolished in the 1960s had been stored in a local woman’s corn crib.

The woman, who was a member of a family that owned a hardware store across the street from First Presbyterian, saved the windows and stored them on her property. When Justus and others from Covenant began work on their new church, they decided to check out the windows.

“We looked at the windows and decided we would have to have them if she would turn them loose,” he said. “It gave our building program a big boost when we found those.”

It was important to many members of the newly formed Covenant church to have the windows that were once part of First Presbyterian because so many of them were longtime members of First Presbyterian, Justus said.

Covenant Presbyterian now has about 250 members.

After the owner agreed to let Covenant Presbyterian have the windows, the new church building was designed with the stained glass windows in mind, said Paula Dillman, who served on the church committee with Justus.

“We planned the building around the windows,” she said.

The restoration of the windows began with Justus, Dillman and the others on their committee attempting to solve what amounted to a large jigsaw puzzle.

The committee members photographed the sections of stained glass as they removed them from the corn crib. They then cut the photographs to make a puzzle piece of each section of stained glass. The committee members then used what they knew about how the windows should look once they were put together to complete the puzzle.

Once their puzzle was finished, the committee found they had enough pieces of stained glass to make two complete windows and half of a third.

When Justus, Dillman and the others pulled the stained glass from the corn crib, they also found inscriptions on two of the windows showing they were dedicated to Joseph Noterman and Clara Heer.

But no one knew who those two people were or why the windows were dedicated in their names.

“A lady on the committee attempted to track back and find who those people were, but she hit a dead end,” Justus said.

The window pieces, which contained rare shades of red and blue not often found in stained glass, went through a lengthy restoration.

Two different restoration businesses worked on the windows, with one of those changing ownership in the middle of the restoration. Pieces from the incomplete third window were used to restore the other two windows. But the names on the windows were lost during the restoration when the second business changed hands.

“When we got the windows back and asked about the memorial plates, he said, ‘I have no idea,’ ” Justus said.

The eventually learned that Joseph Noterman and Clara Heer came from a family that once lived and worked in Hendersonville.

That information came a few years ago, after Columbia, S.C., resident Emily Wheeler contacted the church about her relatives, who were named on the windows. Wheeler also recently visited Hendersonville to share photographs of the Wheeler family, who ran a hotel off North Main Street, and of the Noterman family, who lived across the street from the hotel. The two families came together after a Wheeler son married a Noterman daughter. Clara Heer and Joseph Noterman were part of those families.

Some of Wheeler’s photographs will likely be displayed at Henderson County’s Heritage Museum and public library this fall.

One of her photographs shows the stained glass windows with the two names on them in the old First Presbyterian Church.

“Emily Wheeler has been a world of help,” Justus said.

Despite the loss of the names, the windows became the colorful centerpiece of Covenant’s sanctuary, once they were restored and finally placed in the church off Kanuga Road in the early 1990s.

Dillman said she often hears the word “Wow” from visitors who walk into the sanctuary for the first time and are awestruck by the windows.

Dillman left Covenant for a while and said she had a similar reaction when she returned.

“I almost cried,” she said. “My eyes fill with tears now when I think of all that went into them.”

Justus, too, said he often reflects on the work he and others spent saving the windows.

“I just look at them and how pretty they are and think how providential we have been,” he said.

<p>First-time visitors to Covenant Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville often comment on the beauty of the church's two stained glass windows.</p><p>And once they learn of the years of painstaking work it took to save and restore the windows, those same visitors are grateful to the members of the church who worked so hard to preserve them.</p><p>“We all came away from this thinking it was providential that we had these windows,” said Bob Justus, a member of the church who served on a committee that saved the windows.</p><p>The church committee began trying to save the windows in the 1980s after some former members of First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville came together to form Covenant.</p><p>While they were planning the new church, Justus and the others learned that some stained glass windows that were part of the First Presbyterian Church building demolished in the 1960s had been stored in a local woman's corn crib.</p><p>The woman, who was a member of a family that owned a hardware store across the street from First Presbyterian, saved the windows and stored them on her property. When Justus and others from Covenant began work on their new church, they decided to check out the windows.</p><p>“We looked at the windows and decided we would have to have them if she would turn them loose,” he said. “It gave our building program a big boost when we found those.”</p><p>It was important to many members of the newly formed Covenant church to have the windows that were once part of First Presbyterian because so many of them were longtime members of First Presbyterian, Justus said.</p><p>Covenant Presbyterian now has about 250 members.</p><p>After the owner agreed to let Covenant Presbyterian have the windows, the new church building was designed with the stained glass windows in mind, said Paula Dillman, who served on the church committee with Justus.</p><p>“We planned the building around the windows,” she said.</p><p>The restoration of the windows began with Justus, Dillman and the others on their committee attempting to solve what amounted to a large jigsaw puzzle.</p><p>The committee members photographed the sections of stained glass as they removed them from the corn crib. They then cut the photographs to make a puzzle piece of each section of stained glass. The committee members then used what they knew about how the windows should look once they were put together to complete the puzzle.</p><p>Once their puzzle was finished, the committee found they had enough pieces of stained glass to make two complete windows and half of a third. </p><p>When Justus, Dillman and the others pulled the stained glass from the corn crib, they also found inscriptions on two of the windows showing they were dedicated to Joseph Noterman and Clara Heer. </p><p>But no one knew who those two people were or why the windows were dedicated in their names. </p><p>“A lady on the committee attempted to track back and find who those people were, but she hit a dead end,” Justus said. </p><p>The window pieces, which contained rare shades of red and blue not often found in stained glass, went through a lengthy restoration. </p><p>Two different restoration businesses worked on the windows, with one of those changing ownership in the middle of the restoration. Pieces from the incomplete third window were used to restore the other two windows. But the names on the windows were lost during the restoration when the second business changed hands. </p><p>“When we got the windows back and asked about the memorial plates, he said, 'I have no idea,' ” Justus said. </p><p>The eventually learned that Joseph Noterman and Clara Heer came from a family that once lived and worked in Hendersonville. </p><p>That information came a few years ago, after Columbia, S.C., resident Emily Wheeler contacted the church about her relatives, who were named on the windows. Wheeler also recently visited Hendersonville to share photographs of the Wheeler family, who ran a hotel off North Main Street, and of the Noterman family, who lived across the street from the hotel. The two families came together after a Wheeler son married a Noterman daughter. Clara Heer and Joseph Noterman were part of those families. </p><p>Some of Wheeler's photographs will likely be displayed at Henderson County's Heritage Museum and public library this fall. </p><p>One of her photographs shows the stained glass windows with the two names on them in the old First Presbyterian Church. </p><p>“Emily Wheeler has been a world of help,” Justus said. </p><p>Despite the loss of the names, the windows became the colorful centerpiece of Covenant's sanctuary, once they were restored and finally placed in the church off Kanuga Road in the early 1990s. </p><p>Dillman said she often hears the word “Wow” from visitors who walk into the sanctuary for the first time and are awestruck by the windows. </p><p>Dillman left Covenant for a while and said she had a similar reaction when she returned. </p><p>“I almost cried,” she said. “My eyes fill with tears now when I think of all that went into them.” </p><p>Justus, too, said he often reflects on the work he and others spent saving the windows. </p><p>“I just look at them and how pretty they are and think how providential we have been,” he said.</p>